Referéndum y ciudadanía

Abstract

This article is an analysis of the first experience of a referendum in Mexico, which was organized in the state of Chihuahua during 1997. The aim of this civic movement was to repeal an electoral reform that had been implemented without any consultation and with regressive features. The referendum could not be carried out because of a series of legal impedimenta that are analyzed in detail. The text analyzes the needs for democratic consolidation in a regional society that has already experienced government by an opposition party, and that does not want to lose the advantages of an incipient democratic system.